The Netherlands go into the World Cup with more questions than certainty after a mixed final stretch that ended with a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan and came on the back of a 1-0 loss to Algeria. Ronald Koeman has already called the team’s lack of cutting edge a “headache”, and the warning is hard to ignore for a side still being talked about as a dark horse.
That attention is no surprise today because the Dutch remain in the frame as one of the tournament’s outsiders, ranked number eight by bookmakers and given just a 3.7% chance of lifting the trophy for the first time. When a team is priced like that and still arrives with a patchy build-up, every missed chance starts to look heavier than it should.
Against Uzbekistan in New York, the Netherlands needed two penalties to get over the line, and the second came in the final minute of stoppage time. Even then, Uzbekistan had equalised in the last five minutes with their only shot on target. Donyell Malen and Crycensio Summerville were among the forwards who missed a hatful of chances, turning what should have been a routine win into another reminder that the Dutch have not yet found a ruthless edge.
Steven Minten, whose view was that the results were “a little bit misleading”, argued that Oranje had the better chances in both games and that a lack of pressing was Koeman’s main problem. He also said it was fairly easy for opponents to contain the Netherlands. That fits the wider picture: the team has been affected by injuries to key players, a tricky draw and performances that have not looked convincing enough for a side asking to be taken seriously.
Auke Kok was blunter still. He said the Netherlands had been playing bland football for years, adding that it had been years since they beat a top nation. “It’s as if they’re looking for help from higher powers or good fortune,” he said. “The Netherlands has been playing bland football for years. There’s no panache, no bravado. A team needs willpower and aggression.” Those are not the kind of lines that usually trail a team expected to go deep into a World Cup.
There is also a more practical reason for the unease. Fourteen of the 26 Dutch players are in the English Premier League, but that does not mean the squad has arrived in peak condition. Liverpool’s disappointing second season under Arne Slot cost the Dutch coach his job and took its toll on Cody Gakpo, while Jeremie Frimpong was left out of the squad altogether. Virgil van Dijk has looked fragile at times at the heart of Liverpool’s defence, and Tijjani Reijnders, who joined Manchester City from AC Milan for €55 million last summer, fell out of favour there. Koeman’s side has names, but not yet the kind of form that makes the route ahead look straightforward.
For all the talk of outsider status, the opening matches will decide whether the Netherlands are merely undercooked or already exposed. Koeman put it plainly: “Everything will have to go our way if we want to go far.” The next step is the tournament itself, and the Dutch now need a response that their warm-up games did not provide.
